Châteaudun () is a commune in the

Eure-et-Loir Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is a

sub-prefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefecture ...

of the department. It was the site of the

Battle of Châteaudun The Battle of Châteaudun was a battle in northwestern France during the Franco-Prussian War, which took place on October 18, 1870. In this battle, the Imperial German Army led by General Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig von Wittich attacked the city o ...

during the Franco-Prussian War.

Geography

Châteaudun is located about 45 km northwest of

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

. It lies on the river

Loir The Loir () is a long river in western France. It is a left tributary of the Sarthe. Its source is in the Eure-et-Loir department, north of Illiers-Combray. It joins the river Sarthe in Briollay, north of the city of Angers. It is indirectly a ...

, a tributary of the Sarthe.

History

Châteaudun (Latin ), which dates from the Gallo-Roman period, was in the middle ages the capital of the

County of Dunois The County of Dunois comprised the old ''pagus Dunensis'', the area surrounding Châteaudun in central France. A county had taken form around Châteaudun (''Castrum Dunense'') in the tenth century. It passed to the counts of Blois, who appointe ...

. The streets, which radiate from a central square, have a uniformity due to the reconstruction of the town after fires in 1723 and 1870.

Employment

The area is rich agricultural land, but a major local employer is the

Châteaudun Air Base Châteaudun Air Base (french: Base aérienne 279 Châteaudun) was a French Air Force (french: Armée de l'Air base, between 1934 and 2014. The base was located approximately southeast of Châteaudun and about southwest of Paris. It is currently ...

just to the east of the town, and much larger than the town itself.

Population

Main sights

The town has a

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

, founded in the 10th century, known for being the first on the road to Loire Valley from Paris. Châteaundun also has a museum, the . The museum is diverse, the most popular exhibition being the big collection of stuffed birds. In addition, there are often temporary exhibitions, recent examples including the war of Asia, ancient Egypt and insects.

Churches

File:Chateaudun - Église Saint-Valérien (1).jpg, Saint-Valérien File:Chateaudun - Eglise Madeleine (1).jpg, La Madeleine File:Chateaudun - Eglise St Jean de la Chaine (1).jpg, Saint-Jean-de-la-Chaîne File:Chateaudun - Eglise Saint-Lubin (1).jpg, Saint-Lubin ruins File:SaintLubain.jpg, Saint-Lubin ruins File:Chateaudun - Champde 05.jpg, Notre-Dame-du-Champdé chapel (now cemetery entrance) File:Chateaudun - Chapelle de la Boissiere (1).jpg, La Boissière chapel

Medieval houses

File:Chateaudun - Maison angle Cuirasserie Huileries (1).jpg, Cuirasserie street and Huileries street angle File:Chateaudun - Maison angle Cuirasserie Huileries (2).jpg, Cuirasserie street and Huileries street angle File:Chateaudun - Maison St Lubin (1).jpg, Louis Esnault house File:Chateaudun - Maison des architectes (1).jpg, Château's architects' house File:Chateaudun - Maison de la Vierge (2).jpg, Virgin's house File:Chateaudun - Maison de la Vierge (3).jpg, Virgin's house (detail)

Personalities

Châteaudun was the birthplace of: * Pierre Guédron (1570–1620),

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Nicolas Chaperon Nicolas Chaperon (bapt. 19 October 1612, in Châteaudun – 1656 in Lyon) was a French painter, draughtsman and engraver, a student in Paris of Simon Vouet whose style he adopted before he was further matured by his stay in Rome (1642–51) in ...

(1612–1656)

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Edmond Modeste Lescarbault Edmond Modeste Lescarbault (1814, Châteaudun - 1894), was a French doctor and an amateur astronomer, best remembered for his 1859 supposed observation of the non-existent planet Vulcan (hypothetical planet), Vulcan. He graduated and obtained his ...

(1814), doctor and amateur

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

Romain Feillu Romain Feillu (born 16 April 1984) is a French former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2019. He is the older brother of Brice Feillu, who also competed professionally as a cyclist. Career Feillu was born in Chât ...

(1984)

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

Brice Feillu Brice Feillu (born 26 July 1985) is a French former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2019 for the , , , and teams. Career Born in Châteaudun, Eure-et-Loir, he is the younger brother of Romain Feillu, who was also ...

(1985)

Twin towns - sister cities

Châteaudun is twinned with: * Arklow, Ireland * Kroměříž, Czech Republic *

Marchena ''Marchena'' is a genus of jumping spiders only found in the United States. Its only described species, ''M. minuta'', dwells on the barks of conifers along the west coast, especially California, Washington and Nevada.Maddison, Wayne. 1995. ...

, Spain * Schweinfurt, Germany *

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

, Canada

Gallery

Image:Chateaudun Chateau 03.jpg, Châteaudun (Eure-et-Loir) Donjon and chapel of the château Image:France Eure-et-Loir Chateaudun Place de la mairie.JPG, Fountain and façade of the town hall of Châteaudun Image:Member of the FFI.jpg, A member of the FFI poses with his

Bren gun The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also use ...

at Châteaudun - 1944